CNBC Business News Update - Market Midday: Stocks Lower, Fed Meeting On Interest Rates Is On With Rate Cut Expected Tomorrow, Retail Sales Better Than Expected 9/16/25

Episode Date: September 16, 2025

From Wall Street to Main Street, the latest on the markets and what it means for your money. Updated regularly on weekdays, featuring CNBC expert analysis and sound from top business newsmakers. Anchored by CNBC's Jessica Ettinger. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I'm Jessica Eddinger, CNBC. Wall Street's in the red this afternoon as a two-day Fed meeting on interest rates is now on. The S&P 500 Index opened above 6,600 this morning. And it's still above that level. But the major averages, as I said, all lower. The Dow down 120 points. United Health shares leading it lower. They're down 1.5% this afternoon. The S&P 500 index down 10%. points at 6604. The NASDAQ down 25 points. InVIDIA shares are falling almost one and a half percent this afternoon. Gold with a new intraday all-time high, $3,737 an ounce. The Fed has started its two-day meeting on interest rates. Investors are banking on an interest rate cut, which would be announced tomorrow afternoon. The CME Fed Watch tool says the market's priced in a 96% chance of a quarter

percentage point cut. The Fed controls short-term interest rates for banks. That allows for cheaper money they turn around and lend that out. It also means savers, though, would earn less on money they have in high-yield savings accounts and money market funds. Retail sales came in stronger in August than expected, but some of that may be inflation as things cost more. 0.6% increase. Economists were looking for 0.2% increase during the month of August. So that could incorporate a little bit of higher prices in there. It's not adjusted for inflation, but it also shows a pretty decent consumer picture. Yeah. Although I think if you do fold in some inflation adjusted models, you're probably looking at about two-tenths. CNBC's Carl Kintanilla with Sarah

Eisen. Here's CNBC's senior economics reporter, Steve Leesman. Part of what we're seeing in this retail sales number is a little bit more inflation on the consumer. good side. You can have consumer strength that looks to be true. It could also be true that part of what we're seeing here is the result of tariffs working their way into the system. President Trump's pressure campaign for the Fed to drop interest rates will lead to even higher inflation and weaker economic growth. This is according to a new CNBC survey of money managers, investment strategists, and economists. More than 80% of those asked believe the president's trying to eliminate the Central Bank's independence. Nearly 70% say the moves will drive inflation higher.

Treasury Secretary Scott Besant telling CNBC today he believes a trade deal with China is likely before the new November deadline on reciprocal tariffs. We need to meet again before November 10th. That is the date that our role expires on the the reciprocal the full reciprocal tariffs on China so we'll be seeing each other again I think the Chinese now

sense that a trade deal is possible as the tariff wall has gone up around the U.S. Oracle shares were higher on a CBS report that oracles among the group of companies that would enable Chinese-owned TikTok to continue to operate on

Americans' cell phones if a deal is announced. The Trump administration has ordered Delta and Arrow Mexico to unwind their joint venture that lets them coordinate schedules pricing and capacity for flights between the U.S. and Mexico. Delta can still hold its minority stake in Aero, Mexico. Jessica Eddinger, CNBC. We have concerns with lots of American companies that come on. Squatbox that do business with China. You should be concerned with the companies that don't come on. Squawk box. Squack box. Weekdays, 6 a.m. Eastern. And streaming on CNBC Plus.